Elderberry Jam
Elderberries and sugar cooked down at camp until a spoon leaves a trail.
- calories
- 180
- weight
- 2.5 oz
- cal / oz
- 72
- protein
- 0 g
- serves
- 8, scales
- prep
- 10 min
- cook
- 45 min
- total time
- 55 min
- water
- 120 ml boiled
- cost
- $
Calorie and protein figures are my own estimates, good enough for planning a food bag and not meant as precise nutrition data.
- Breakfast
- Snack
- Campfire coals
- Canister stove
- Liquid fuel
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Canoe / raft
- Vegetarian
- Vegan
- Gluten free
- Dairy free
- Nut free
- One pot
- Grab and go
- Shelf stable
- Actual cooking
Ingredients
| Elderberries | 4 cups | stripped off the stems with a fork; stems and unripe green berries are toxic, so pick clean |
|---|---|---|
| Sugar | 3 cups | |
| Water | 1/2 cup | |
| Lemon juice | 2 tbsp | bottled, no refrigeration needed until opened |
Method
- Strip the berries off every stem. Rinse them and throw out anything green or shriveled.
- Put berries, water, and lemon juice in the pot. Bring it to a simmer over a low flame or the edge of the fire.
- Cook 15 minutes, mashing with a spoon, until the berries collapse and give up their juice.
- Add the sugar all at once. Stir until it dissolves before the mix comes back to a boil, or it scorches on the bottom.
- Keep it at a low rolling boil 25 to 30 minutes. Stir often. Skim the foam off the top.
- Test it: drop a spoonful on a cold plate or a rock. If it sets instead of running, it is done.
- Pour hot into clean jars and seal. Unopened it keeps. Once open, it lives in the cooler.
This one is only worth doing where the elderberries are, which means a basecamp or a car site in late summer with time to burn. It is a two-ingredient recipe pretending to be more: berries and sugar, near equal by volume, boiled until enough water leaves that the sugar concentration sets. The lemon juice is not for flavor. Elderberries are low in acid, and without it the pectin never gels and you get syrup.
The long boil is the whole job. Elderberries are also low in pectin, so the set comes from evaporation rather than chemistry, and that takes half an hour of stirring over a flame you have to keep steady. The cold-plate test is the only honest way to know when to stop. A campfire works if you cook over coals at the edge rather than flames, since the sugar burns fast once it thickens. Strip the stems carefully. They are not food.
The finished jars are shelf-stable until opened, which makes this a rare camp recipe you carry home instead of eating on the spot.
Packing
Sugar and bottled lemon juice ride in the food box; berries get picked on site. Bring one deep pot, a long spoon, and jars with lids you trust.
Variations
- A cinnamon stick or four cloves in the pot for the last ten minutes.
- Cut the elderberries half and half with apple. The pectin in apple sets the jam faster and softens the flavor.
- Skip the jars and cook it down half as long for a thin syrup to pour over pancakes.
https://savoriurbane.com/dulceata-din-fructe-de-soc-reteta-simpla